If you’ve ever been buried under spreadsheets, disconnected donor lists, and a mountain of data exports, you’re not alone. Nonprofits are collecting more data than ever before, but many teams feel stuck when it comes to making that data actually work for them.
But when that data gets organized into effective fundraising reports, it becomes more than just usable; done right, fundraising reports can be a goldmine of insights that help you raise more, engage smarter, and steward better.
Why Fundraising Reports Matter: Turning Data Into Strategy
Your data is trying to tell you something. Strong fundraising reports help you tune into what’s working, what’s not, and where your donors are in their journey. Instead of guessing which donors might give again or which campaigns made a real impact, you can see it clearly in the numbers.
Manage and track important donor information with ease using CauseVox’s CRM designed for nonprofits
This kind of clarity is what turns good fundraising into great fundraising. When you know how to read the signals in your data, you can personalize outreach, prioritize your time, and raise more money with less stress.
The Problem: Many Nonprofits Have the Data But Don’t Know How to Use It
Here’s the catch. Most nonprofits are sitting on a treasure trove of donor data, but they either don’t know how to access it easily or they’re overwhelmed trying to interpret it. Without the right fundraising reports, it’s hard to see the big picture, or worse, you end up making important decisions based on gut feelings instead of evidence.
The good news? With a little structure and the right tools, your data can become one of the most powerful assets in your fundraising toolkit.
The Solution: Structure + the Right Reporting Infrastructure
There are plenty of ways nonprofits track and analyze donor data, whether it’s through accounting software, spreadsheets, or manually kept notes. But while these can work in a pinch, they often live in silos and require a lot of manual effort to piece together the insights you need.
That’s where a nonprofit CRM (Customer Relationship Management tool) stands out. It centralizes all your donor data and provides powerful, easy-to-use reporting tools. With the right CRM, you don’t just get access to your data, you get the ability to act on it. That means smarter segmentation, automated outreach, and real-time insights into what’s working.
How to Run Smarter Fundraising Reports in a CRM
You don’t need to be a data expert. Here’s a simple framework to start running useful reports in your CRM:
- Outline the questions your report should answer
Examples include:
- Who are my most consistent donors?
- Who hasn’t given recently?
- What campaigns drove the most engagement?
- Segment and filter data
Use filters like donor type (individual, corporate), giving level (major, recurring, one-time), and recency (last gift date) to narrow your view and focus on actionable groups. - Use custom fields or tags
Add tags or create custom fields for deeper donor insights like volunteer status, program interest, or preferred communication method. - Set date ranges and comparison periods
Define timeframes that matter to your organization (e.g., fiscal year, campaign dates) and use them to compare trends and performance over time.
Download our free Complete Guide to CRMs to see how the right tools can simplify your reporting.
The 7 Fundraising Reports That Can Unlock Smarter Fundraising
Let’s walk through seven simple, powerful reports every nonprofit should be using. For each one, we’ll explain:
- What it is
- Why it matters
- How to use it in your day-to-day work
You don’t need to use all seven at once, but even starting with one or two can make a big difference.
1. LYBUNT Report (Last Year But Unfortunately Not This Year)
What it is:
The LYBUNT report shows you donors who gave last year but haven’t given this year (yet).
Why it’s useful:
These are people who already supported you in the past. They care about your cause. Something just got in the way this year, whether they forgot or got distracted. They’re warm leads, not cold ones.
How to act on it:
Run this report before your year-end campaign or any major appeal. Use personalized messaging like “You made a difference last year. Will you join us again?” Tailor your ask based on how much they gave before.
To speed up the outreach process, you can also segment the list by giving level, location, or campaign to make your messaging feel more personal.
With CauseVox’s CRM you can tag and segment your donors by type
2. SYBUNT Report (Some Year But Unfortunately Not This Year)
What it is:
This one goes even further back. It shows people who gave in a previous year, but not last year or this year.
Why it’s useful:
These are longer-lapsed donors, but they still have a history with your organization. Maybe they supported a specific campaign years ago or gave when someone they knew asked.
How to act on it:
SYBUNT donors can be great targets for GivingTuesday or anniversary campaigns. Consider a reactivation series that shares recent wins or a story of impact, paired with a low-barrier ask to re-engage them.
3. New Donor Report
What it is:
A new donor report tracks first-time donors to your organization within a certain timeframe (monthly, quarterly, annually).
Why it’s useful:
New donors are often the most at-risk of never giving again. That’s why it’s so important to thank them and bring them into your community right away.
How to act on it:
Use this report to trigger a welcome email series and track its effectiveness. Send a thank-you message right away, then follow up with stories, videos, or events they can attend. Make them feel like insiders.
You can also use this list to monitor your acquisition campaigns and see what’s working.
4. Repeat Donor Report
What it is:
Shows people who have given more than once (but not necessarily on a fixed schedule).
Why it’s useful:
These are your consistent supporters. They believe in your mission and keep showing up. That’s a big deal.
How to act on it:
Thank them like the VIPs they are and do it in a special way. Let them know you notice and appreciate their loyalty. You might also invite them to consider becoming monthly givers or to increase their gift amount. They’ve already shown they’re invested in your organization’s success.
5. Major Gift Prospect Report
CauseVox’s provides custom pipeline management to letting you know visually where each donor is on their journey
What it is:
This report identifies people who have the potential to give larger gifts. It might be based on total giving, giving frequency, or how quickly they’ve increased their support.
Why it’s useful:
You may already have major donors in your database but you just haven’t spotted them yet. This report helps you prioritize who needs more personal attention.
How to act on it:
Use this list to guide your 1:1 outreach. Schedule coffee chats, make thank-you calls, or invite these donors to special events. Don’t start with a big ask. Instead, start with a relationship.
6. Donation Recency, Frequency, and Amount (RFM) Analysis
What it is:
RFM stands for Recency, Frequency, and Monetary value. This report scores your donors based on how recently they gave, how often they give, and how much they give.
Why it’s useful:
RFM helps you personalize your outreach and ask amounts. Someone who gave last week at $500 is in a very different place than someone who gave $25 two years ago.
How to act on it:
Use this to fine-tune your asks. Recent, frequent, high-amount donors may be ready for a higher-tier ask or leadership giving conversation. Lapsed or low-frequency donors may need more cultivation first.
7. Campaign Performance Report
What it is:
A breakdown of how your fundraising campaigns performed. This could include email open rates, conversion rates on donation pages, number of gifts, average gift size, and more.
Why it’s useful:
This is your go-to report for seeing what worked and what didn’t. Compare open rates, conversion rates, donation page performance, and average gift size across campaigns.
How to act on it:
Review this report after each campaign. Use insights to tweak your messaging, design, or timing in future campaigns. Did your GivingTuesday emails lead to gifts? Did one subject line outperform another? Use this info to improve and A/B test new strategies going forward.
Building Custom Reports for Deeper Insight
Once you’ve mastered the basics, you might find yourself needing answers to more nuanced fundraising questions. For example:
- “Which donor segments are giving less year over year?”
- “What’s the lifetime value of donors acquired through our gala?”
- “Which campaigns have the highest return on investment?”
These are powerful questions and also where highly customized reports come in.
To craft these more advanced reports, you’ll want to leverage a few key CRM features:
- More detailed segmentation: Go beyond basic filters by layering multiple criteria such as donation amount, frequency, event attendance, and campaign source.
- Custom tags and fields: Create tags like “event attendee,” “newsletter subscriber,” or “major gift prospect” to organize donors in ways that matter to your mission.
- Dynamic dashboards: Visualize trends and performance in real time with dashboards that update automatically as new data comes in.
- Cross-campaign aggregation: Pull data from multiple campaigns or donation forms to evaluate broader trends or compare performance across initiatives.
With a CRM like CauseVox, you can make your reporting as simple or as sophisticated as you need it to be. Whether you’re answering day-to-day operational questions or preparing strategic reports for your board, you’ll have the tools to back up your decisions with solid data.
How to Integrate Reports into Your Fundraising Strategy
It’s one thing to know what fundraising reports to run. It’s another to build them into your strategy.
Here’s how to make sure your reports aren’t just collecting dust in a folder:
- As we’ve mentioned before, using a CRM or fundraising platform like CauseVox makes it easy to generate, view reports, and take action on the insights. No more disjointed Excel spreadsheets or clunky exports. We can emphasize enough how helpful this is!
- Automate reports to review weekly, monthly, or quarterly so you can spot trends and pivot quickly.
- Time your reporting to align with key campaign cycles. For example, pull your LYBUNT report a month before your year-end appeal starts.
- Share summaries with your team and board. Keep it digestible. What’s going well? What needs focus?
When effective fundraising reports become part of your routine, you’re no longer just reacting. You’re leading with insight.
Best Practices for Using Reports Effectively
To get the most out of your fundraising reports, it’s important to go beyond just pulling data. Here are a few simple ways to make your reports truly actionable:
1. Keep your data clean.
You’ve probably heard the adage, “Garbage in, garbage out.” The same principle applies to your donor data. If the information going into your system is outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate, the insights and reports you generate will be just as flawed. Make it a habit to regularly update donor contact information, gift records, and notes.
Pro tip: use a fundraising platform with a member portal so donors can update their information themselves.
2. Automate and schedule reports.
Use your CRM to automatically generate key reports on a regular basis. With CauseVox, for example, you can schedule reports so they’re ready when you need them, without the manual work.
3. Establish roles and ownership.
Decide who pulls each report, who reviews the findings, and who follows up. For example, one person might pull the LYBUNT list, while another sends the re-engagement emails. In CauseVox’s CRM, you can assign contact owners and tasks to keep things organized and moving forward.
4. Track what happens after the report.
The real value is in the follow-through. Make sure actions like calls, emails, or segmentation updates are tracked in your CRM and tied back to report findings. This keeps your fundraising efforts focused and measurable.
By following these best practices, you’ll turn your reports into a reliable system for smarter fundraising.
How Reports Through CauseVox Can Streamline Your Fundraising
Here are just a few ways CauseVox’s CRM makes using fundraising reports simple and actionable:
- Track first-time donors automatically from donation pages and campaigns.
- Send instant thank-you emails and launch your welcome series without switching tools.
- Use filters and tags to build segmented lists for follow-up and cultivation.
- Create custom dashboards to keep your most important metrics front and center.
- Spot trends fast, like high-frequency donors, and build smart segments for targeted outreach.
No more toggling between tools or spending hours cobbling together spreadsheets. With CauseVox, the reports are ready when you are.
Your Reports = Your Roadmap to Raising More
Fundraising reports don’t have to be overly complicated. When used well, they give you clarity, confidence, and a clear path forward.
From reactivating lapsed donors to identifying major gift prospects, these reports are the foundation of a smarter fundraising strategy. With CauseVox, you get the reports you need without extra admin work.
